The following family history papers have been filed with the Maryland Historical Society. Mr. Richard Cox, librarian at the Society, will make them available to any researcher with the following limits: 1.) that he/she cite no proper names from the papers; 2.) that he/she take no direct quotes from the papers; and 3.) that any exceptions to 1.) and 2.) be cleared with the paper's author.

All papers were prepared by students as part of their requirements for a course entitled Perspectives on the Family taught by Linda Shopes during the Spring Semester, 1977 in the American Studies Department at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Each paper describes the history of the dtudent's own paternal and maternal families from about 1900 to the present. Papers generally go into some detail about the student's grandparents', parents' and own generations with brief mention of earlier ancestors.

Scope and Contents

Family History: The Marshalls/The Becketts by Michael Beckett

Documents family life among (largely poor) blacks on the Lower Eastern Shore from the early 1900's to the present; notes the economics of family life, the role of extended kin in family life; and the movement of some family members to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Survival Over the Generations by Carol Beitler

Paternal family history describes the life of early twentieth century Jewish immigrants and their children in East Baltimore, including information on the family business, Beitler's Pharmacy; maternal history describes family life in rural Westernport, Maryland, during the first decades of the twentieth century, the family's migration to Baltimore in the late 1920's, and their subsequent struggle to survive among the city's working class. The paper includes a particularly sensitive discussion of the author's parents' drug addiction and the way that it affected family life.

Looking Back on the Past to Understand the Present by Donna Brannan

Describes a variety of Maryland family experiences prior to World War II: paternal grandfather's working class lifestyle in Baltimore City, paternal grandmother's Polish immigrant background, maternal grandparents' early lives on the rural Eastern Shore and their move to Baltimore; since World War II the family's history is basically that of upward mobility and suburbanization. Good data on the changing role of children in the family.

My Family and Theirs: The Brockmeyers and the Shirokys by Mary Brockmeyer

Paternal history focuses on family life in working class East Baltimore from about 1900 to the mid-1920's and the purchase and management of a general story in Severna Park from 1928 to World War II; maternal history includes data on grandmother's early life in Czechoslovakia, her immigration to Baltimore in 1912, her early adjustments to life in the United States, and her marriage and family life in pre World War II, small town Severna Park.

The History of the Douglass and Fiscella Families by Lorraine Douglass

Maternal family history describes immigration from Nicosia, Sicily in the early twentieth century and settlement in New York City; good data on the role of the Nicosian social club in the lives of the immigrant generation and their children; also notes the decline in ethnicity over three generations. Paternal history is that of poor tenant farmers in upstate New York. Post World War II history centers on upward mobility and the movement of the family to Baltimore in conjunction with the father's job at Social Security.

Family History by Sandra Ditto

Describes the lifestyle of rural Hampshire County, West Virginia and the post World War II migration of the family to Baltimore. Especially good on the role of extended kin in the family.

My Family: The Jeffers and Downeys by Donnie Downey

Documents grandparents and parents lifestyle among rural balcks in North Carolina and the movement of the author's parents to Turners Station in Dundalk, Maryland because of a crop failure in 1953. Notes the role of education--and the lack of it--in changing family fortunes.

The Sage of the Fields and Curtis Family by Fran Fields

Describes family life in rural Howard County and the/attempts of the family to retain a rural lifestyle in the midst of increased suburbanization.

The History of the Ford-Piskor and Robinson-Scully Families by Robert Ford

Paternal family history describes family life among Polish immigrants in East Baltimore; notes the role of St. Casimir's Church in the family and also the work of women bamily members as migrant farm workers. Shows a real appreciation of the way poverty affects personality.

A Family History on the Iwancios of Poland by Pau Iwancio

Describes the lifestyle among Polish immigrants in East Baltimore to World War II; notes the role of the Church in family life and the work of female family members and children as migrant workers.

My American Family by Sheila James

Describes family life among fairly well off rural blacks in North Carolina, including the economics of family life; also the movement of the family to suburban Washington, D.C. in the late 1950's and the establishment of a middle class black lifestyle in Wheaton. Particularly sensitive understanding of the economic and personal limits of life in rural North Carolina; also the social implications of varying skin color among blacks.

From Rags to Riches in Three Generations by William Jordan

Describes rural black family life in North Carolina and the movement of the family to Baltimore in the early 1940's for increased opportunity.

Family History by MaryJane Langan

Describes family life in rural Cecil County and the way it has sustained traditional patterns of living throughout the twentieth century; notes especially the role of extended kin in the family.

My Family by Nick Lazarides

Family life among Greek immigrants, their children, and their grand-children in East Baltimore. Includes information of family-owned businesses--a confectionary story and then a restaurant and bar in Locust Point; also on the return of Greek-American men, the children of the immigrant generation, to Greece for brides.

Coping with the American Dream by Sandie Litsinger

Paternal family history describes family life among Tilghman Island farmers and watermen; maternal family history describes life among Baltimore's working class. Notes patterns of alcoholism within the family and its effects on family life.

The Martins and the McKitricks: The Story that Created the Union by Burt McKitrick, Jr.

Describes strong patterns of family life in rural Linthicum during the first decades of the century; the effect of World War II on family life and, after World War II, the upward mobility of the second generation, the author's parents.

Family History of the Buchanan and Paige Family by Glenda Paige

Family life among three generations of lower class blacks in West Baltimore; notes the problems of discrimination and the difficulties of sheer survival, also the role of St. Peter Claver's Church and School in the family's history.

The Americanization of the Reibens and the Goldsteins by Michelle Reiben

Describes the rapid assimilation of middle class Jewish immigrants in New York in the first decades of the twentieth century and the migration of their children to suburban Maryland in the early 1950's in conjunction with the author's father's job with the federal government.

My Family As I See It by Kathleen Louise Schwaab

Family life among three generations of German-Americans in Baltimore and environs, detailing social and economic mobility from the working class to the middle class; especially notes the changing role of women in the family.

Tales of the Unexpected; The Simmons and Rogers Families Come to Life by Debbie Simmons

Describes family life in rural West Virginia and the post-World War II move of the author's parents to Dundalk, Maryland for occupational opportunity; notes especially the sustaining role of religion and the church in the family's history.

Slaughter and Murray by Richard Slaughter

Paternal history includes information on the Francis Davidson Graham family of Roland Park during the first decades of the twentieth century; Graham was the scion of a prominant Baltimore manufacturing family. Maternal history includes information about family life in rural northeast Maryland during the early decades of the twentieth century. Notes the price of cuccess in the second generation, including the suicide of the author's father.

From Two Generations of the American Dream to the Best Start Yet by David Leslie Somers

Three generations of upward mobility is traces in this Baltimore-based family; includes information on the role of the city in increasing family fortunes and also the changing role of women in the twentieth century.

A Family History; Walsh and Bowenkelman by Mary Monica Walsh

Family life among German- and Irish-Americans in Baltimore; notes the effects of the author's mother to survive as a widow with six children.

Meyers/Zimmerman by Jacqueline Marie Meyers

Daily life among working class German-Americans in Baltimore.

The following paper, also filed with the Maryland Historical Society under the same restrictions noted above, was prepared by the student author for a course similar to that described above but offered in the Fall of 1976.

Family History by Regina Newkirk

Describes family life among rural blacks in North Carolina, the migration of the author's parents to Baltimore in 1947, and their subsequent life style in the city.